Time Lords
The Time Lords and Time Ladies (sometimes called Lords of Time or, rarely, Chronarchs) were the oligarchic rulers of the planet Gallifrey. They were biologically Gallifreyan. History The Gallifreyans possessed one of the oldest and most powerful civilisations in the Universe. As the Time Lords, they would hold absolute power for some ten million years. Eventually, however, the Last Great Time War wiped out the race. Culture Time Lords appreciated music, as indicated by such artifacts as the Harp of Rassilon and the use of nursery rhymes to entertain children. They also appreciated art, although painting on Gallifrey was done by computer. Academy students sometimes played a (dangerous) game called "Eighth Man Bound". The multidimensional game of Perigosto, played with a ball and a specialised Perigosto stick, was also a favourite, as was a complicated board game called Sepulchasm. During a darker, more barbarous time in the planet's past, Time Lords enjoyed watching time-displaced individuals fight to the death in a dedicated area called the Death Zone, but that practice had been entirely abandoned by the Doctor's day. The Time Lords had a rite called Soul Catching, which was done to the dying Time Lords before they were assimilated into the Matrix. This allowed them to assimilate their memories before they died. Domain The Time Lords ruled from the planet Gallifrey, where they would watch the workings of the universe. Though they once had a mighty empire during the the Dark Times, the empire collapsed after the fall of the Pythia. The Time Lords were said to have control over much of the structure of the universe. They had set up the Web of Time, they controlled and fixed paradoxes and they allowed travel between parallel universes. After the near-extinction of the Time Lords during the Last Great Time War, these processes were in flux. Government The Time Lords were led by the High Council. The Council consisted of the Lord or Lady President, the Lord or Lady Chancellor, the Castellan and Lord Cardinals. The Inner Council consisted of the three most powerful members of the High Council. The Lord President was the most powerful member of the Council and had near absolute authority, and used a link to the Matrix, a vast computer network containing the knowledge and experiences of all past generations of Time Lords, to set Time Lord policy and remain alert to potential threats from lesser civilisations. The Lord or Lady Chancellor was next in power, and handled many of the government functions. The Castellan controlled the Chancellery Guard and therefore the safety of Gallifrey. The rest of the High Council was made up of the Lord Cardinals, which represented the various Gallifreyan Chapters. During the Last Great Time War, the Visionary was also a member of the council. She acted as a prophet, recording the future, but only with vague predictions written on paper. Crime and Punishment The protection of the Time Lords was carried out by the Chancellery Guard. They protected the Capitol, investigated crimes and captured criminals. More secretive or questionable matters were handled by the Celestial Intervention Agency, which was created to be a covert arm of the High Council to safeguard the Time Lords' interests. Much of what they did went against the non-interference policy, leading them to use agents (like the Doctor) to protect their secrets. The punishments used for crimes varied in severity. *For his breaking of the non-interference policy, the Doctor was forced to regenerate and was exiled to Earth with a non-functioning TARDIS. *For the genocide of the Vervoids, the Doctor would lose all of his remaining regenerations. *For the various crimes the Master committed, his punishment would have been the reversal of his time stream, such that he had never existed. *A similar punishment was carried out on the War Lord for his interference in human history which led to the deaths of thousands; he (and several of his guards) were dematerialised out of existence. The Time Lords also used imprisonment for criminals, such as the ones in Shada. Education One of the major institutions of the Time Lords was the Time Lord Academy. It was split up into Chapters, each of which being identified by their distinctive colours. The subjects at the academy ranged from the study of Cosmic Science to Vintage Vehicles to Gallifreyan flutterwings. Children began instruction at the Time Lord Academy, at the age of 8, in a special ceremony. The Gallifreyans would be forced to look into the Untempered Schism, which showed the entirety of the Time Vortex and the power that the Time Lords had. The Gallifreyans subjected to its terrifying effects would react differently: "Some would be inspired, some would run away, and some would go mad." They would then spend "centuries" studying at the Academy. Science and Technology The Time Lords were far advanced in maths, biology, xenobiology, chemistry and physics. They held the most advanced technology the present universe had ever seen. Their weapons and defense technology, however, lagged behind some other races and species. Transport The most characteristic technology used by the Time Lords was their time travel technology of the TARDISes. The TARDIS was derived from the early Gallifreyan technology of the Time Scaphe. The TARDISes were one of the few types of technology that was updated, from the obsolete Type 40, the more advanced Type 57 and the humanoid Type 102. As well, Battle TARDISes and War TARDISes also existed. One of the newer technology developed within the Doctor's lifetime was the Time Rings. These Time Rings were small device attached around the wrist, allowing a person to travel through time without being in a time machine. They could also be made as small as finger rings that could be touched together to enable time travel. Apart from the TARDISes, the Time Lords had little interest in creating other forms of transport. As such, they relied on them instead of other methods of travel. Stellar Manipulation The Time Lords had the capability to control and use the power of stars. The Doctor went so far as to claim that the Time Lords "invented" black holes. Using the Hand of Omega, the Time Lords could speed up the development of stars. One such star had been turned into a black hole and was kept under the Panopticon as the Eye of Harmony to power the civilisation of the Time Lords. Weaponry and Defences Despite being one most of the powerful species in the universe, the Time Lords had little in the way of defences and their offensive technology was lagging behind many other civilizations. This may be due in part to the transduction barrier, which covered the planet and which was almost completely impenetrable by outside forces or their general policy of non-interference. As such, when they were invaded by the Sontarans, they were unable to defend themselves with their regular stasers and the Doctor needed to use an ancient Time Lord weapon called the De-mat Gun. Few Time Lords, even Chancellery Guards, had any real combat experience. During the Last Great Time War the Capitol was protected by a set of Dual Turrets set around it, they were used to destroy attacking ships. Miscellaneous Technology Some other Time Lord technology includes the Matrix, Validium, the Genesis Ark and the Chameleon Arch. The Lord President Rassilon had a metallic glove which was capable of destroying a person by shooting out electricity and it reverted the Master Race to its Human form.